College of Business Administration and Accountancy

Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

The Rebirth of Freedom (1946-1970)

Dianne P. Angeles

Renze Joy M. Candido

Niña Blanca C. Lagon

Laura Laine V. Tiburcio

Mr. Mark Anthony G. Moyano, Ph.D.

August 30, 2017

I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
After the colonization of Spain, America and Japan, on 1946 the Philippines
regained its freedom. In February 1945 U.S. troops reached Manila, which was
devastated in fighting that continued until July. World War II ended with the Japanese
surrender to the Allies on September 2. Manila was the second most destroyed city of
World War II, after Warsaw, Poland. With the destruction of Manila’s urban
infrastructure—universities, hospitals, newspaper printing plants, government offices,
factories and port facilities—the Philippines was left without its most modern sector.
In 1944 Osmeña succeeded Quezon, who died in the United States, as president
of the government-in-exile. Osmeña returned to Manila in 1945, and plans went forward
to inaugurate the independent Republic of the Philippines. Manuel Roxas challenged the
elderly Osmeña for the presidency and split from the Nationalist Party to form the Liberal
Party. Roxas won the election of April 1946 and became the first president of the new
republic, with Elpidio Quirino as vice president. The Republic of the Philippines was
formally proclaimed on July 4, 1946.
The postwar administration faced staggering problems. The country’s
infrastructure and economy were in ruins. In addition to economic problems, the
Philippines faced growing tensions between landowners and the rural poor. To help in the
republic’s rehabilitation, the United States established preferential trade relations and
awarded the new nation several hundred million dollars in war damage and rehabilitation
aid. As a condition of receiving the aid, the Philippines was forced to agree to give U.S.
investors parity, or equal economic rights with Filipinos. The parity privileges included the
right to exploit the country’s natural resources, which required an amendment to the
Philippine constitution. Other trade agreements and contingencies also tied the Philippine
economy to that of the United States. In addition, the United States maintained a military
presence in the Philippines. In 1947 the U.S. government secured an agreement allowing
it to retain jurisdiction over numerous military installations, including Clark Air Base and
Subic Bay, for a period of 99 years. In 1959 the Philippines amended the agreement,
giving the United States a new 25-year lease for fewer bases.
Meanwhile, let us discuss the state of literature during this period. The early post-
liberation period was marked by a kind of “struggle of mind and spirit” posed by the
sudden emancipation from the enemy, and the wild desire to see print. Filipinos had, by
this time, learned to express themselves more confidently but post-war problems beyond
language and print-like economic stability, the threat of new ideas and mortality –had to
be grappled with side by side.
There was a proliferation of newspapers like the Free Press, Morning Sun of
Sergio Osmeña Sr., Daily Mirror of Joaquin Roces, Evening News of Ramon Lopezes
and The Bulletin of Menzi. This only proved that there were more readers in English than
in any other vernaculars like Tagalog, Ilocano or Hiligaynon. The stories in English are
longer and longer in pieces which were being written by writers of the period. Stevan
Javellana’s without seeing the dawn tells of the grim experiences of war during the
Japanese Occupation.
 Journalists had their day. They indulged in more militant attitude in their reporting
which bordered on the libelous. Gradually, as normality was restored, the tones and
themes of the writings turned to the less pressing problems of economic survival. Some
Filipino writers who had gone abroad and had written during the interims came back to
publish their works. Not all the books published during the period reflected the war year
but some were compilations or second editions of what have been written before.

II. FORMS/TYPES OF LITERATURE DURING THE PERIOD

There are two types of literature in general. The prose and the poetry. Prose
consists of those written within the common flow of conversation in sentences and
paragraphs, while poetry refers to those expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme,
line and stanza and has a more melodious tone. Prose include novel, short story, plays,
legends, news and the like. While Poetry is divided into Narrative (Epic, Metrical Tale,
ballads, etc.), Lyric (folksong, sonnets, elegy, etc.), Dramatic (Comedy, melodrama,
tragedy, etc.). Both prose and poetry played a role in the existing Literature during Rebirth
of Freedom.
The types/forms of literature during this time in line of prose were novel, short story,
essay, news, and research papers.

III. IMPORTANT LITERARY PIECES OF THE PERIOD

A. POETRY
For the first twenty years, many books were published both in Filipino and in
English. Among the writers during this time were: Fred Ruiz Castro, Dominador I. Ilio, and
C.B. Rigor.
Some notable works of the period include the following:
 Heart of the Islands (1947) – a collection of poems by Manuel Viray
 Philippines Cross Section (1950) – a collection of prose and poetry by
Maximo Ramos and Florentino Valeros
 Prose and Poems (1952) – by Nick Joaquin
 Philippine Writing (1953) – by T.D. Agcaoili
 Bataan Harvest – by Amador Daguio
 Horizons Least (1967) – a collection of works by the professors of UE,
mostly in English (short stories, essays, research papers, poem and drama)
by Artemio Patacsil and Silverio Baltazar
 Who Spoke of Courage in His Sleep –by NVM Gonzales
 Speak Not, Speak Also –by Conrado V. Pedroche
 Other poets were Toribia Maño and Edith L. Tiempo
Jose Garcia Villa’s Have Come, Am Here won acclaim both here and abroad.
 The themes of most poems dealt with the usual love of nature, and of social and
political problems. Toribia Maño’s poems showed deep emotional intensity.

B. NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES

Longer and longer pieces were being written by writers of the period. Stevan
Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn tells of the grim experiences of war during the
Japanese Occupation.
In 1946, the Barangay Writer’s Project whose aim was to publish works in English
by Filipinos was established.
In 1958, the PEN Center of the Philippines (Poets, essayists, novelists) was
inaugurated. In the same year, Francisco Arcellana published his Pen Anthology of Short
Stories.
In 1961, Kerima Polotan’s novel The Hand of the Enemy won the Stonehill Award
for the Filipino novel in English.
In 1968, Luis V. Teodoro Jr.’s short story The Adversary won the Philippines Free
Press short story award; in 1969, his story The Trail of Professor Riego won second prize
in the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and in 1970, his short story The Distant
City won the GRAPHIC short story award.

Some of the writers and their works of the periods are:

 The Voice of the Veteran – a compilation of the best works of some Ex-
USAFFE men like Amante Bigornia, Roman de la Cruz, Ramon de Jesus
and J.F. Rodriguez.
 Twilight in Tokyo and Passion and Death of the USAFFE by Leon Ma.
Guerrero
 For Freedom and Democracy – by S.P. Lopez
 Betrayal in the Philippines – by Hernando Abaya
 Seven Hills Away – by NVM Gonzales
Many books were published during this time, among which were:
 Mga Piling Katha (1947-48) by Alejandro Abadilla
 Ang Maikling Kuwentong Tagalog (1886- 1948) by Teodoro Agoncillo
 Ako’y Isang Tinig (1952) collection of poems and stories by Genoveva
Edroza Matute
 Mga Piling Sanaysay (1952) by Alejandro Abadilla
 Maikling Katha ng Dalawampung Pangunahing Autor (1962) by A.G.
Abadilla and Ponciano E.P. Pineda
 Parnasong Tagalog (1964) collection of selected poems by Huseng Sisiw
and Balagtas, collected by A.G. Abadilla
  Sining at Pamamaraan ng Pag-aaral ng Panitikan (1965) by Rufino
Alejandro. He prepared this book for teaching in reading and appreciation
of poems, dramas, short stories and novels
 Manlilikha, Mga Piling Tula (1961-1967) by Rogelio G. Mangahas
 Mga Piling Akda ng Kadipan (Kapisanang Aklat ng Diwa at Panitik) 1965 by
Efren Abueg
 Makata (1967) first cooperative effort to publish the poems of 16 poets in
Pilipino
 Pitong Dula (1968) by Dionisio Salazar
 Manunulat: Mga Piling Akdang Pilipino (1970) by Efren Abueg. In this book,
Abueg proved that it is possible to have a national integration of ethnic
culture in our country.
 Mga Aklat ni Rizal - Many books about Rizal came out during this period.
The law ordering the additional study of the life of Rizal helped a lot in
activating our writers to write books about Rizal.

IV. FAMOUS WRITERS, AUTHORS, AND LITERATORS OF THE PERIOD

Published in 1946, Ginto Sa Makiling – a novel by Macario Pineda, is the first work
of note that appeared after the second world war.
Two novels by writers in English dealt with the war experience: Stevan
Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn (1947), and Edilberto Tiempo’s Watch in the Night.
Both novels hew closely to the realist tradition. Javellana published work Without Seeing
the Dawn was all about the experiences in World War II.
Lazaro Francisco, the eminent Tagalog novelist of the pre-war years, was to
continue to produce significant work. He was to produce three more novels. Sugat Sa
Alaala (1950) reflects the horrors of the war experience as well as the human capacity for
nobility, endurance and love under the most extreme circumstances. Maganda Pa Ang
Daigdig (1956) deals with the agrarian issue, and Daluyong (1962) deals with the
corruption bred by the American-style and American-educated pseudo-reformers. Lazaro
Francisco is a realist with social and moral ideals. The Rizal influence on his work is
profound.
Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers
who practiced “committed art”. In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the
conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of inequity
and oppression. Among his works were Luha ng Buwaya (1963) which deals with the
struggle between the oppressed peasantry and the class of politically powerful landlords
and Mga Ibong Mandaragit (1969) which deals with the domination of Filipinos by
American industry.
Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist,
essayist, poet, and teacher, articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes.
Through these writings, Gonzalez received many prestigious awards, including repeated
Palanca Memorial Award for Literature awards, the Jose Rizal Pro Patria Award, and the
City of Manila Medal of Honor. In addition, his books became internationally recognized,
and his works have been translated into Chinese, German, Russian and Bahasa
Indonesian. Some of the awards that he received during the period are as follows:
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize winner for Children of the
Ash-covered Loam(1952); Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize
winner for Lupo and the River (1953); Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story),
Third Prize winner for On the Ferry (1959); and Philippines Free Press First Prize Award
winner for Serenade (short story) (1964).
Nick Joaquin, byname of Nicomedes Joaquin, is a Filipino novelist, poet,
playwright, essayist, and biographer whose works present the diverse heritage of the
Filipino people. Among his works during the period are Prose and Poems (1952), The
Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961), Selected Stories (1962), La Naval de Manila and
Other Essays (1964), and The Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966). Some of the awards
and prizes he has received includes: Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961); Stonehill
Award for the Novel (1960); first prize, Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949);
and first prize, Palanca Memorial Award (1957-58).
Amador Daguio is a poet, novelist and teacher during the pre-war period. He was
best known for his fictions and poems. He had published two volumes of poetry, Bataan
Harvest (1973) and The Flaming Lyre (1959). The Flaming Lyre was the first collection of
poems by Daguio. Bataan Harvest was a collection of poems about war. In 1952, he
obtained his M.A. in English at Stanford University as a Fulbright scholar. His thesis was
a study and translation of Hudhud Ni Aliguyon (Ifugao Harvest Song). In 1973, six years
after his death, Daguio was conferred the Republic Cultural Heritage Award.
Jose Garcia Villa is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets regardless
of race or language. Villa, who lived in Singalong, Manila, introduced the reversed
consonance rime scheme, including the comma poems that made full use of the
punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way. He won first prize in poetry at the UP
Golden Jubilee Literary Contests (1958) and was conferred the degree Doctor of
Literature, honoris causa, by FEU (1959); the Pro Patria Award for literature (1961);
Heritage Awards for literature, for poetry and short stories (1962); and National Artist
Award for Literature (1973). During the Rebirth of Freedom Period, he published A
Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry in 1962.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes on the printed page, oral literature flourished in the
outlying communities. Forms of oral poetry like the Cebuano Balak, the
Ilokano Bukanegan, the Tagalog Balagtasan, and the Samal Tinis-Tinis, continued to be
declaimed by the rural-based bards, albeit to dwindling audiences. In the late 1960’s,
Ricaredo Demetillo had, using English (and English metrics) pioneered a linkage with the
oral tradition. The result was the award-winning Barter in Panay, an epic based on the
Ilonggo epic Maragtas. Inspired by the example, other younger poets wrote epics or long
poems, and they were duly acclaimed by the major award-giving bodies. Among these
poets were writers in English like Cirilo Bautista (The Archipelago, 1968), Artemio Tadena
(Northward into Noon, 1970) and Domingo de Guzman (Moses, 1977).
The list of Republic Cultural Heritage Awardees during the period 1960-1971
(Awards given on 12 June, Philippine Independence Day) is as follows: :
1960: NVM Gonzales – poet and fictionist
1961: Nick Joaquin – poet, fictionist, playwright, essayist, critic,
Cesar Adib Majul - historian
1962: Amado V. Hernandez – poet and fictionist
Jose Garcia Villa – poet and short story writer
1963: Kerima Polotan – fictionist
Teo S. Baylen – poet and fictionist
1964: Carlos A. Angles – poet
Carlos Quirino – historian
1965: Carlos P. Romulo – essayist, novelist, playwright
Horacio de la Costa – historian
Alejandrino G. Hufana – poet
Bienvenido N. Santos – poet and fictionist
1966: Iñigo Ed. Regalado – novelist
Alejandro G. Abadilla – poet
Arturo B. Rotor – short story writer
1967: (no writer awardee)
1968: Domingo Abella – historian
Ricardo Demetillo- poet
1969: Nicolas Zafra – historian
1970: Lazaro Francisco – novelist
1971: Lope K. Santos – novelist
F. Landa Jocano – anthropologist, writer

V. DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE DURING THE PERIOD

Philippine Literature in Tagalog was revived during this period. Most themes in the
writings dealt with Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of life under the Japanese
government and the brave guerilla exploits.
Newspapers and magazine publications were re-opened like the Bulaklak,
Liwayway, Ilang Ilang and Sinag Tala. Tagalog poetry acquired not only rhyme but
substance and meaning. Short stories had better characters and events based on facts
and realities while themes were more meaningful. Novels became common but were still
read by the people for recreation. The people’s love for listening to poetic jousts increased
more than before and people started to flock to places to hear poetic debates. Many books
were published during this time as mentioned.
Another inspiration for writers in Filipino was the launching of the Palanca
Memorial Awards for literature headed by Carlos Palanca Sr. in 1950. (Until now, the
awards are still being given although the man who founded it has passed away). The
awards were given to writers of short stories, plays and poetry. The first awardees in its
first year, 1950-51 in the field of the short story were the following: first prize, Kuwento Ni
Mabuti by Genoveva Edroza; second prize: Mabangis Na Kamay…Maamong Kamay by
Pedro S. Dandan and third prize, Planeta, Buwan At Mga Bituin by Elpidio P. Kapulong.
REFERENCES:
Kahayon, A. (2009). Philippine Literature: Through the Years. Mandaluyong City:
National Bookstore.
https://aboutphilippines.ph/files/philippineliterature-091020093804-phpapp01.pdf
http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-the-arts-sca/literary-
arts/philippine-literature-in-the-post-war-and-contemporary-period/
http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-
philippines/nvm-gonzalez/
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